The Rochester Phenomenon

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Over the past two years, this blog has allowed me to learn about what could arguably be considered one of America's most overlooked and understated regions. Clearly, Rochester has many imperfections, some in obvious places (i.e. the center of the metro area), helping to cement a perception that has been far from optimal. Yet some extremely low-grade research, as has been performed on this site, reveals a possibility that was thought by many to be impossible: Rochester's best days are still ahead of it.

The formula of a few jobs, continued downtown development, and shameless optimism is transforming Rochester, and the Rochester of 2025 might barely resemble the Rochester of 2010, the year of my family's arrival. In fact, the transformation is already quite obvious, making this site, which aims to bridge perception and reality, less necessary.

I truly appreciate the (small) readership over the past two years. Rochester is full of remarkably intelligent and passionate people, and I was honored to have a tiny sample of this group appreciate this voice. While the site will no longer be updated, I hope that it can continue to serve as a place to find true facts (as opposed to alternative facts) about this great region.

In the near future, my time will be devoted to the standard tasks of raising children and holding a job, both of which I've learned can be surprisingly time consuming.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

In The New Jim Crow, author Michelle Alexander meticulously crafts the argument that black Americans have been disproportionately targeted by the once widely advertised War on Drugs. The result has been a massive growth in America's prison population, largely composed of black men, many of whom have spent years in prison for relatively minor drug crimes which would go unnoticed in much of the country. Further compounding the injustice is the fact that upon release from prison, the label of felon (often forced upon "criminals" through plea deals) makes reentry into society amazingly difficult, as discrimination against felons in the arenas of housing and employment is perfectly legal. The ultimate outcome has been the decimation of America's inner cities, with fatherless families being all too common and standard stereotypes being unfairly reinforced. Remarkably, when citizens are asked about the most pressing issues facing our cities, criminal justice reform hardly makes the cut.

In Rochester, we unfortunately have a firsthand look at the hopelessness that can affect urban America. Our local conversation mirrors the national conversation, with an immense amount of coverage focused on education, employment, transportation, and crime. Relatively speaking, criminal justice reform receives far less attention. Yet the reality that drug use in Pittsford is not treated nearly the same as drug use in the city of Rochester cannot be denied. And the subsequent consequences to our community as a whole are equally undeniable.

Given the above reality, the following questions seem reasonable:

Does our media really need to provide intense coverage of every crime committed in the city of Rochester, often supporting preconceived notions and thus affecting how we direct our community's resources?

Can our media at a minimum spend an equal amount of time on criminal justice reform as it spends on crime itself?

Does a city like Rochester really want to elect yet another police chief as mayor? (The answer might be yes, but the question warrants consideration.)

Friday, January 20, 2017

As discussed many times previously, part of Rochester's charm is found in its tendency toward self-deprecation. But as also mentioned several times, Rochesterians often find themselves on a slippery slope between humorous self-deprecation and damaging self-hatred. This latter entity is defined by the feeling that our problems are unique (i.e. no other city in the world could possibly have the same issues.) This thought process clouds our local dialogue on many issues such as poverty, crime, education, transportation, etc.

Recently, the Democrat and Chronicle published an interesting article on the role of transportation (or lack thereof) in maintaining urban poverty. The article addresses the important fact that Rochester has an overrepresentation of public transportation commutes greater than one hour (one way), markedly penalizing those living in or near poverty. The author addresses the irony of this quandary in a region that prides itself on short commutes. The fitting conclusion of the piece is that the location of jobs and public transportation infrastructure both need to improve.

Yet prior to taking the next step and concluding how horrible Rochester is compared to other cities, it is worth looking at public transportation statistics in relative terms rather than absolute terms. Exactly how does Rochester compare to other locations with regards to public transit commute times?

In Rochester, as per the Census Bureau's 2014 one-year American Community Survey, the average commute time for transit users was 40.2 minutes. This transit commute time happened to be lower than that in San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Oakland, Portland (OR), Newark (NJ), Denver, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Santa Ana (CA), Houston, and Cleveland. What do these 15 cities have in common? They were recently ranked among the top 25best cities for public transportation.

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

On a recent flight back to Rochester, I partook in a spontaneous conversation on the merits of the Flower City. The general consensus was that life here, aided by a dose of optimism, can be fantastic. The gentleman next to me succinctly pointed out that Rochesterians must sacrifice only two things, namely bragging rights and direct flights. While the direct flights commentary is difficult to contest, the bragging rights issue is more debatable. What city can boast a major downtown hotel having to close its kitchen due to a mouse infestation?

All joking aside, here is yet another example of how our disrespected town can keep some pretty solid company. Infogroup recently sought to identify America's best metro areas for wine drinkers (among metropolitan statistical areas with over one million residents.) The methodology was quite simple - the most wine retailers and wineries per 10,000 residents. The top 10 were:

Friday, December 30, 2016

The holiday season serves as a great (usually) opportunity to reconnect with family. During this year's festivities, I had the realization that Rochester is in many ways just like a dear family member:

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Unbeknownst to me prior to my arrival in Rochester, the area receives an abundance of snow. (Okay, perhaps I did have slight forewarning of the weather.) Surprisingly, the ample winter precipitation is frequently met with a collective groan, rather than what could be an emphatic embrace. Because as is often the case, when Rochester does something, it does it in world-class fashion (think music, Riesling, children's museum, iconic companies, etc.) Not only does it snow here, it snows in a way that makes the world take notice. In fact, as measured by average annual snowfall among cities with over 100,000 residents, Rochester is one of the ten snowiestin the world. So rather than shy away from this label, it's possible to wear it with pride. Here are the top ten, in reverse order:

Sunday, December 11, 2016

In a move away from politics, the time seems right for another meaningless (yet potentially meaningful) list. As the capital of film, it would seem logical that Rochester should be an ideal location for cinephiles (also known as movie buffs). And the data, at least as collected by one source, would agree. In 2013, Movoto Real Estate ranked the 10 Best Cities for Movie Lovers. Although not perfectly specified, it appears that the 100 most populated metro areas were assessed by the following criteria:

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About Me

In 2010, my wife and I moved to Rochester, NY. This move was not prompted by necessity, family, or another involuntary factor. We were community physicians, and we could have taken our trades essentially anywhere. Between the two of us, we had lived in New York City, Boston, and Washington D.C. We knew a total of zero people in Rochester. Why then would we leave the BosWash corridor for a much maligned city on the fringes of the Rust Belt and in the heart of the Snowbelt?
Because our research had revealed a surprising phenomenon. We had not discovered the dying industrial region that is portrayed by popular perception. To the contrary, we had uncovered a progressive history, artistic excellence, remarkable ingenuity, elite (suburban) public education, and economic determination. How, we asked ourselves, could such an enriching region have such a marginal reputation? We have since termed this discrepancy as the Rochester Phenomenon. While the Rochester Phenomenon has a certain charm, the future of this region depends in part on bridging the gap between perception and reality. It is hoped that this blog can contribute to this process, if even in a miniscule way.